'Burn Notice': Carlos Bernard is the bad guy with good intentions

The guest casting for "
Burn Notice" never fails to amaze, but even
they had to be a little giddy in getting Tony Almeida on-board.

Our bad guy of the week turns out to be a professional jerk, but he wasn't born that way. Back in his home country of Argentina, Gabriel and family witnessed the evil and heartless Apex Industries dump toxins into the water, thus killing the daughter. After years in Colombia, he's now on a vigilante path by kidnapping one Apex worker and going after a much bigger target. It's up to Fi to charm this Alan King long enough for his capture.

But oh the hoops she has to jump through just to land the job: it takes Michael and Sam forging new passport pages to initially convince Gabriel that an impromptu, yet crappy cover story is true. Then he reveals her INTERPOL file, much to her chagrin. Gabriel brings up the death of her little sister Claire in order to form a bond, yet Fi doesn't initially reveal her emotions... that is, until he Fast and Furiously drives to an abandoned underpass where, before she can be shot dead, finally reveals her story: how Claire never got to try her perfectly awful bread pudding. This is enough for Gabriel to
finally let her in on the plot.

Lucky for her, Michael barges into the hotel restaurant where she's to meet Alan King. Our Man Westen is posing as a health inspector on a surprise visit. It's so surprising that the kitchen staff clears out fast enough for Michael to start a grease fire and evacuate the restaurant. It doesn't get better for Fi, though, as Gabriel drives her to the same warehouse-in-the-middle-of-nowhere where he's stashing the hostage. Just before he can administer a lethal injection to the guy, she fakes a threat hiding in the grass and springs the hostage from the cage. Now you've gone and made Tony Almeida mad again! Fi forces Gabe into the cage, but instead of staying quiet like a nice evildoer, he sets the cage
en fuego! It just so happens Michael and Sam pull up outside (with a nice lipstick-bugging assist from Madeline) and evacuate everyone just before the building is consumed in a massive explosion.

As for Michael, he's once again taking two steps forward, then two steps back in his attempt to isolate Gilroy from whatever he's attached to. This is easier said than done as he's asked to buy a heavy machine gun from a white supremacist group, only to find out he was the decoy while
Gilroy stole the gun. Still feeling like he's not an equal partner in this, he has Sam get his old FBI contacts in touch so that he can squeal on his new friend... except without proof, the feds have no interest in what Michael is pushing.

They might have paid more attention if Michael had mentioned the fact Gilroy wanted him to guard a seemingly ordinary bridge in the middle of nowhere. A random shot from an unseen sniper keeps Our Man Westen in line. As it turns out, Michael's bridge role is quite significant. You see, a fuel truck was rammed into a random plane at the airport, causing quite the explosion. When Sam tells Michael of this development, the actual target plane is landing in a nearby field with the mystery prisoner on board. This leads Michael to blow the bridge and rush to Gilroy's waiting Land Rover. Instead of speeding away, Michael finds Gilroy bleeding profusely with a bomb attached to his person. Before Gilroy meets his untimely end, he reveals that the prisoner (the sinister Simon) actually wanted
Michael all along!
Next week: the finale! More Explosions! Management! Senior Citizen Torture! Simon!